Her True Self
by Military-SweetHeart
Summary: Bruce has a dirty secret: he has a family, or did until they died in a horrible car accident. Now he has to take care of his oldest daughter, and the Avengers will help a friend when they need it most. But Deanna Banner is more than what she seems. Bruce's daughter has seemed to catch the attention of Steve, but does she return the feelings? Daddy's little girl ain't so little.
1. Hiding the Pain

_New story for a favorite movie of mine._

_I will have some small snip-its of song lyrics here and there, but they will only be used to add some insight in my character's personality.  
_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing but all my OCs I use.  
_

**Recommended Song:** "Blackout" _by Breathe Carolina_

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**xxx Hiding the Pain xxx**

She quickly blinked back the tears, fighting against her urge to cry and show everybody the pain she was feeling. She so badly wanted to curl up into a ball and let her pain and sadness out, but she wouldn't. Instead she went for looking dead and cold, like her family. Her mother, strong and caring. Her sister, full of energy and stubborn. They both had the most peaceful expressions, like they were thinking of wonderful thoughts.

_They're dead, _a voice whispered in her mind. She shut her eyes tight to stop the new wave of tears. No, she wouldn't think of that. They were just sleeping...in coffins made of cherry wood. _Stop! Don't think like that, _she tried to stop the flood of memories. To stop what she knew was her fault. She tried pushing them back, but these were harder to hold in than the tears. The memories kept piling up and up, until they spilled over and assaulted her mind. Fire, blood, screaming, flesh burning. All of these were fresh, so fresh she felt like she was reliving them.

She quickly threw her eyes open, just in time. The man saying hollow words about her mother was just finishing up, and was staring directly at her. He had a fake smile, fake sadness in his eyes, and looked like he felt sorry for her. Screw that man, he was just as fake as everyone else here. He was waiting, waiting for her to let the tears fall, to show a small moment of weakness that they could take advantage. He lifted his hand, wanting her to step up there and say a few things, but she would show them.

"Deanna, my dear, would you like to say something?" The man asked, his smooth voice sending chills down her back. He had slicked back gray hair, wrinkly skin, and was wearing an expensive suit. Deanna didn't pay any attention to him or what he was wearing. Her eyes were glazed over, showing nothing. His smile twitched the slightest, but he hid it with a quick cough into his hand. Again, the word fake flitted across her mind. Deanna gave no sign of hearing him as she stood up, her body turned ever so slightly to make it look like she was getting out of her seat. She walked out of the aisle and made slow steps toward the center stage and up the stairs. She was holding two flowers. A soft purple lilac for her sister, her namesake, and a blue tulip, for her mother. She heard some people whisper over the flowers, but she didn't pay them any mind. Her mother and sister hated lilies, and had told her to always make sure they got at least one lilac and tulip.

After placing the flowers on their chests and moving their hands to look like they were holding the flowers, she turned around and faced the medium sized church filled with people who were all fake. None of them really cared about her family, they just cared about what they would get from them. She cleared her throat and moved away from the man as he took a step towards didn't smile, didn't frown, she kept her face clear.

"My mother and sister: both were my world. They meant so much to me, more than any one of you would ever care to understand." There were some nervous coughs around the room, but mostly quiet. "We were the three happiest people I knew, always there for one another, unlike you." Again, more nervous coughs and this time, some whispering. "My mother, she was a great business woman, a beautiful moth in this world of fake butterflies. She knew what she wanted and always went after it, holding no regrets and letting nothing hold her back." At this, Deanna showed a ghost of a smile. She walked back over to the coffins and brushed some hair out of her mother's face. It was truly beautiful; slightly tanned skin, a splash of freckles decorating her nose and cheeks. There wasn't too many to over-power the image, just enough to make her look young and care-free. Underneath smooth eyelids was a pair of stunning sapphire blue eyes. Her nose was smooth and straight, high cheekbones gave her an exotic look, a thin upper lip and full lower lip made the exotic look even more beautiful. Framing this one of a kind face was a full head of thick, chocolate brown hair. It was naturally wavy and ended at her mid-back. Truly, Deanna's mother was breathtakingly beautiful. When she was done admiring her mother, she moved onto her little sister.

Her sister looked completely different from the two of them. She had darkly tanned skin, thin blonde hair, and gorgeous brown eyes. She had the same straight nose as her mother, but her cheekbones were those of her father. They were strong, same as her jawline and chin. Deanna did the same thing with her sister as she did with her mother; she committed their images to memory.

"My sister was everything a little sister was supposed to be. Helpful, sweet, annoying, and charming. She had dreams, like any other girl, but she strived to go after them. She was always hard-working, but she wanted to do nothing more than help others. I can't count the number of times she came home with a stray animal, always asking to keep it with her beautiful eyes looking sad , yet hopeful at the same time." Deanna's eyes went from being glazed over to hardened as she looked at everyone in that room. None of them seemed to let her words sink in, most of them were checking their watches and looking bored. She couldn't believe their insensitivity!

Turning to fully face the crowd, she made sure she every single person their could feel her hateful glare.

"Maybe this will catch your attention, you money grabbing leeches. My mother and sister were never scared to show their true selves to the rest of the world, unlike all of you. I know why you're here; you want to know if my mother had chosen one of you as her successor for her company, but ya know what? I've seen her will, none of you were named as the 'heir. I was, now stop hiding. You can all go home, get out of my sight." Deanna commanded, turning her back on everyone and closing the distance between the door and herself. She didn't bother to hear those people shout and yell at her, she wanted to get out of here and hide herself away.


	2. Going Back

_New story for a favorite movie of mine._

_I will have some small snip-its of song lyrics here and there, but they will only be used to add some insight in my character's personality.  
_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing but all my OCs I use.  
_

**Recommended Song:** "Hit and Run" _by Breathe Carolina_

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**xxx Going Back xxx  
**

Bruce Banner paced back and forth around the kitchen, waiting anxiously for the phone to ring. He was so close to pulling his hair out in anxiety. He didn't bother looking up, he knew his friends were worried about him. He had been doing this for three hours straight, for the last three days. Ever since he learned that his wife of 19 years was dead, he couldn't sleep. Then the knowledge that his little girl was dead came to him. He couldn't take it; neither could the other guy.

"Bruce, sit down. They'll call," Tony said as he slapped a hand on Bruce's shoulder. He tried steering his friend towards the bar for a drink, if only to help calm him down. He didn't get very far before the phone began to ring. Bruce slipped out of Tony's grip and ran to catch the call.

"Hello? Hello? Yeah, this is him. Uh huh. Okay. Thank God, is she there? Can I talk to here?" Bruce waited patiently, even though he continued to pace. His eldest daughter had survived the crash, she was fine. More then fine, actually. She wanted to come and stay with him, something about being close to her father. "Deanna? Hey, sweety. Yeah, I know." Tony watched his friend talk to whoever was on the other line, probably his daughter or something. The others had only got the bare minimum; Bruce had had a family, they were dead. His wife and youngest daughter were dead, but his eldest had survived. Tony was surprised, just like the others. They had had no idea about his family, or the fact that he had been married. It was just too strange. "Deanna, honey, I know. I miss them too. It's okay- Wait, what? You want to what? No, I can't allow you to do that. You're coming to stay with me," Bruce didn't want his daughter to live with some unknown person; who knows what they would do to her.

"Bruce, what's wrong?" Natasha asked just as she walked into the room. She walked by a turned the speaker on, and the three of them began to listen to the soft feminine voice on the other line.

_"Dad, are you sure you want me to live with you? I don't want to be any burden to you, or the...others."_ The voice spoke softly.

"Deanna, I won't have you living with a complete stranger, especially because you're the new heir to your mother's company-" Bruce began, but was immediately cut off by Tony. The damn ass can't keep his mouth shut for five seconds.

"Whoa, wait. She's the heir to which company?" Tony asked, talking straight to the machine.

_"Dead On. The clothing line. Dad?" _

"Yes, Deanna?" Bruce pushed Tony out of the way and gave Natasha a 'don't-let-him-say-another-word' look. He waited for his daughter's response, hoping against hope she would agree and come live with them. Besides Tony and Loki, Bruce trusted everybody to make her feel at ease.

_"Open the front door please, I'm standing outside right now." _That's when everybody heard the soft knock at the door. The three of them held looks of complete surprise and shock. _"Dad? Are you okay?" _The voice was a little louder, this time they could hear it from outside the door.

"Deanna, door's open."

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_Sorry for the wait, but here's the next chapter. Sorry if it's short, I've got a lot of stuff going on at home.  
_


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